Barclays Interview Experience for BA3 Graduate Analyst (On-Campus) 2022

Eligibility Criteria: CS & IT students from Final year, with ≥ 60% score across class X, XII and Engineering Semesters.

Round 1:

• This round was a test of 90 mins on the HackerEarth platform which consisted of 2 Sections- Technical MCQs and Coding. 
• There were a total of 30 MCQs and each of the MCQs was of either 4 or 6 marks. There were a lot of Output-based MCQs on C++, Java, and Python. Apart from this, a few questions also included the CS Fundamentals including OOPS, SQL, DBMS, and OS.
• The coding section consisted of 2 questions. The questions were:
  •  https://www.hackerearth.com/problem/algorithm/calculate-cost-ecebf9f8-444b018f/  (20 marks)
  • Max Divisor Tree: Given a tree with the root value N, what is the maximum height the tree can have? The property of the tree is that each of its nodes branches out to the nodes with a value equal to one of its divisors (except 1 and the number itself). (50 marks)

One thing which is very important in this round is proper time management as you have to do well in both sections to maximize your chances of getting shortlisted.

Around 150-170 students had applied and 33 students (3 Girls, 30 Boys) were shortlisted. I was one of them and the interview was scheduled for the next day. The interviewer was a VP at Barclays.

Round 2 (Tech+HR Interview, Duration- 30mins):

• The interview began with exchanging the greetings.
• Like any other interview, I had assumed that the interviewer will first ask me to introduce myself. But, you can always expect some surprises during instances like these! He first asked me what do I know about Barclays and whether or not I had done any kind of research concerning the company. (I mentioned everything that I knew and had researched about them, including their values of ‘RISES’).
• Then, he asked me to introduce myself and give a gist of the things mentioned in my resume. Further, he asked me about a thing or a quality in me that not many people are aware of but I would like to tell about it to the other people.
• Then, he asked me to mention my favorite area concerning this IT domain. I had mentioned DBMS and then he asked me about types of joins, gave an example and asked which join would be applicable in that scenario, gave some further conditions concerning the same example, and asked me about the difference in the results for those conditions. 
• Questions on Cartesian Product and ACID properties were also asked.
• Then, he asked me a few questions related to the version control systems (this was probably because I had mentioned about it in my resume).
• Few questions were also asked based on the couple of projects that I had mentioned in my resume.
• Next, he asked me to describe about a situation where something was not nicely done and then I stepped in and the condition/situation got better (the important thing to remember is that you have to answer without letting anyone down or without over exaggerating about yourself). He further also asked me the learning that I got from that situation about which I had mentioned in my answer.
• He also asked me about my experience in the college council of which I was a part.
• Further a couple of more HR questions related to where I see myself in the next few years, the areas that I would like to work in in the future, etc. were asked.
• Then I was asked if I had any questions for him, and I was ready with a few.

The results came out the same night and 18 students (1 Girl, 17 boys) were selected and I was one of them. The next day, 3 more students (1 Girl, 2 Boys) were selected. 

Tips:

• Do not lie in your resume at all. Mention only those things about which you’ll be confident and comfortable enough to have a discussion.
• If you clear the test and are shortlisted for the interview, make sure that you’re able to create a great impression in those 30 mins of the interview. It can get very disheartening if you don’t receive the offer after reaching this far.
• Try to give relevant and good examples to support your answers wherever required. Also, try to incorporate teamwork, leadership qualities in your answers wand wherever required.
• Lastly, do read a lot of GFG archives and also look out for those commonly asked HR questions.